Tuesday, July 31, 2007

I've been waiting to do some moving of some things in the garden until we'd gotten a decent rain, and we got 3½ inches last week. That really perked things up in a big way, including the grass, and we once again have a green lawn as opposed to the golden brown one we had before. I didn't want to further stress the rain-starved plants by moving them, but I decided it would be okay to go ahead and do it today.

It seems like I was playing musical plants, but sometimes you just can't be certain what will work where until you put it there. Sometimes it's just right and sometimes it's all wrong. So you move it. And sometimes you move it again.Today was moving day for:

Delphinium grandiflorum 'Blue Mirror' - This was moved from the front of the house, where it was doing very well, to make room for some new shrubs. It joined the larkspur that I grew from seed, as they look similar.

Spiraea japonica 'Walbuma' - This also was relocated from the front of the house to make room for the new shrubs. I planted it between two other Spiraea japonica 'Goldmound.' We had originally purchased three of each one, for planting in two different places, then two of one and one of the other died. This will work too, and we'll take the dead ones back to Menard's for a refund, since they have a one year guarantee and we purchased these in May.

Ratibida pinnata (Gray-headed coneflower) - This was purchased at a plant sale as a donated plant from someone's garden and was mislabeled. I didn't have any of these, so it was okay, but when it bloomed and I saw that it wasn't what I thought it was, I realized it wasn't where I would have placed it, had I known. So today it got moved to the back of our property, between a pine tree and the burning bushes (Euonymus alata).

Iris reticulata - I didn't like these where they were and I'm not sure where they're going to go just yet (I'll figure that out tomorrow), but I dug them up so I could plant my new violas there.

Aruncus dioicus 'Kneiffii' (Goat's Beard)- I had gotten this at Lowe's Greenhouse in Cleveland when Mom and I went to the Cleveland Flower Show this spring, and I had planted it in full sun. I don't know what I was thinking, but it clearly wasn't happy there during our hot, dry summer. The leaves got burned and it wasn't growing well. It's now in the shade/part shade garden near the honeysuckle trellis. I've got astilbe there and it loves that location, so this should do well there, too, since they basically like the same growing conditions.

Platycodon grandiflorus 'Scentimental Blue' (Balloon Flower) - The original location was good for this and it has been growing well, but a nearby (invasive) plant called 'Limelight' artemisia has been creeping closer and closer to it. I've continually removed some of the artemisia in order to keep it under control (I'll deal with this in a big way later), but the Japanese Fantail Willow (Salix sachalinensis 'Sekka') that grows in the middle of the artemisia has grown larger as well, so the balloon flower had started to look crowded there. It joined two other platycodon varieties - 'Astra Pink' and 'Astra Semi-Double Lavender.' I think it's better that these are all in the same location anyway.

Pulmonaria 'Majeste'(Lungwort) - The little section just under the kitchen window that used to be my herb garden has just gotten to be too shady to grow herbs, so I put some pulmonarias and other shade lovers there, but apparently it's too shady even for this. I have another pulmonaria there that does just fine ('Trevi Fountain'), but 'Majeste' doesn't like it. I moved it to the trellis area which is shady, but much brighter. I've got 'Opal' there and it's thriving, so we'll see how it does there.

Tiarella cordifolia 'Brandywine' (Running Foam Flower) - Same situation as 'Majeste.' I moved it to the trellis area too, near another foam flower, 'Spring Symphony.'

There are a few other things I need to move, like a couple of hostas which have outgrown their spots and the hollyhock seedlings that came up in the stones about a foot away from their mamas. THAT will be a JOB, and I've been putting it off. Meanwhile, they're getting larger and larger. Why is it you can give a plant ideal conditions and it dies, yet it will grow in stones, neglected and never getting watered in a drought year? Even the weevils have left these babies alone.

Gardens are constantly changing - a work in progress - a learning experience. As long as I garden, I'll move things here and there to please either me or the plants. In the end, the plant usually gets its way over mine, because if the plants ain't happy, the gardener ain't happy either!

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